When the editors sat down as a group to examine the landscape of translational research methods in 2012, two developments seemed to emerge from the pack. Which ones? Find out...

During 2012, a number of new methods and techniques were reported in the pages
of BioTechniques aimed at quickly moving diagnostic applications or
therapeutics toward the clinic.

But when the editors sat down as a group to examine the landscape of
translational research methods in 2012, two developments seemed to emerge
from the pack – an advance in microRNA (miRNA) quantification that should
enable the discovery and use of informative miRNA-based biomarkers in the
future and a simplified assay using a currently available fluorescent
substrate that could impact the diagnosis of gliomas.

When the editors sat down as a group to examine the landscape of translational research methods in 2012, two developments seemed to emerge from the pack.

In recent years, miRNAs have emerged as key biological regulators of
pathogenesis in many human diseases, including cancer. While the field of
RNA interference has seen its up and downs over the past decade, steady
progress in moving gene-silencing approaches using small RNAs towards the
clinic continues. In addition to their possible roles as therapeutics,
identification of miRNA-based biomarkers of disease is important in
diagnostic applications. But while initially identifying a prognostic
biomarker is a solid start, being able to quantify changes in marker
abundance between the disease and normal states can be even more
informative. Enter David Rimm and his colleagues at Yale University who in
2012 described the development of a quantitative fluorescence in situ
hybridization assay to examine miRNAs in tissue samples. Previously studies
of miRNA abundance required the total extraction of RNA from cells, but the
problem is that this isolation approach results in the loss of key spatial
information (i.e. was the miRNA overexpressed in a specific location in the
cell?). By using a variety of dyes and stains, along with miRNA in situ
hybridization, Rimm and his colleagues were able to establish the locations
of various subcellular compartments in tumor epithelial samples which could
then be correlated with the abundance of specific miRNAs, providing spatial
information in addition to quantitative values of miRNA abundance. The Yale
team also showed that this approach was amenable to high-throughput tissue
microarray-based assessment of miRNAs. Taken together, this work represents
an important step in the design of a tool set for the discovery and
validation of potential diagnostic miRNA biomarkers.

Glioblastoma is an extremely malignant form of cerebral glioma. Even though
brain imaging and clinical presentation may indicate a glioblastoma,
histopathology is still necessary for a definitive diagnosis. In November, a
team of researchers described a new tool for the diagnosis of these tumors –
4-(4-(dimethylamino)-styryl)-N-methylpyridinium iodide (ASP+), a well-known
substrate for monoamine transporters, can be used as a marker of gliomas.
The authors demonstrate that accumulation of this fluorescent substrate can
be used to evaluate glioma tumors in brain slices using fluorescence
microscopy, thus better enabling clinicians to confirm diagnoses and
providing researchers a simple tool to study glioma formation.

Clearly 2012 provided some interesting new methods and tools that can be used
for translational research. Importantly, this trend among methods articles,
and the clear interest in developing or even applying current tools to
translational studies, is on the rise, an encouraging sign for everyone as
we are sure to see more basic discoveries drive clinical applications in the
near future.